Neighbors 4 Neighbors

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – More orange and green trolleys are taking over the streets of Miami and before you know it, Miami may soon resemble the roads of San Francisco.

The City of Miami expanded its free trolley service Friday, which takes residents through the Health District all the way to the Marlins Ballpark, to the streets of Downtown.

The Biscayne-Brickell Trolley route will travel along the Brickell/Biscayne corridor between SW 26th Road near Rickenbacker Causeway and NE 17th Terrace near the Omni Terminal.

The free trolley service will operate Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., with additional service during Heat playoff games Sundays.

Major destinations along the route include:

Metrorail and Metromover stations along the route

Financial District

Mary Brickell Village

Brickell Key

Miami Convention Center

Knight Center

Bayfront Park

Bayside

Freedom Tower

American Airlines Arena

Bicentennial Park

Adrienne Arsht Cenet

Miami International University Art & Design

Margaret Pace Park

Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and City Commissioner Carlos Lopez-Cantera hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony Friday and inaugurated the new route.

The city hopes to connect the downtown trolley with the health district lines, which was launched in March, as well as other lines planned for the future.

In early summer, the city will expand the service to include a new trolley route connecting Overtown with the Health District.

The city anticipates expanding the service even further in 2013 to include a trolley connecting the Omni terminal with the Allapattah area along NW 20th Street and another trolley route along Coral Way from SW 37th Avenue to Brickell Avenue.

Five years in the works, CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald reported that the trolley system was funded by a number of sources, including the city’s $2 million-a-year share of half-cent transit surtax money, $1.5 million from the state and $4.1 million in federal stimulus money.